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Updated on
April 04, 2007,
S.S.
asks from
East Hanover, NJ
on
March 28, 2007

Transitioning Milk from Bottle to Sippy...

My 14 month old won't take milk in his sippy - I have tried - though not consistent to give him his milk in a sippy cup and not in a bottle but when he hands me back the sippy and says "Ba" I give in and put it back in the bottle. He takes water and juice from a sippy with no problem - and I have tried the Nuby... any other suggestions ???

Also is it normal that a 14 month throws tantrums when he doesn't get what he wants??? - he was crying so hard yesterday because we had to come inside from playing outside that he couldn't catch his breath and anymore it seems like these tantrums are occuring more then ever !!!

Featured Answers

J.R.
answers from
New York
on
March 30, 2007

I can't help with the bottle to cup transition and my son is 9 months old and still only using a bottle however I would like to mention something about the tantrums...when my 9 month old doesn't want to sit in his high chair he has a fit. he bangs his hands and kicks his feet and swings hs arms and yells. I mentioned it to the doctor at his 9 month visit and she said it shows a sign of intellegence at such a young age. So there you have it, the tantrums, as annoying as they may be at any age, are a good thing while so young!
J.

More Answers

K.M.
answers from
New York
on
March 29, 2007

S.,

You're giving in! Haha. Your beautiful baby boy is asking and receiving. Which is fine. But, if you want him off the bottle, then throw all the bottles out. He may go a day or two without drinking milk but it won't hurt him one bit.

When he does eventually drink milk from the sippy cup have a party about it. This way, he will be more inclined to do something "big boyish" because he knows its really cool and makes you really happy.

As far as the tantrums. HAHA! Yes, more to come!

He doesn't have the vocab to express what he's feeling so he screams so loud, hard and long that he may even change colors. It's okay. Just let him know that you do totally understand why he's so mad but you must also explain why you guys have to come in.

He is flexing his independence more than ever and its actually a really good sign. You don't want a boy, then man that will allow people to walk all over him. Let him feel comfortable expressing his disappointment but show him that he can express it without turning blue. haha.

He surely has every right to be PO'd that he's got to come int he house and not stay outside to play. But, none of us can just do whatever we want all day every day because of responsibilities. If you have to come in to clean or cook or laundry or what have you, tell him so and tell him that you could use his help. With more hands you can get work done sooner and do something fun again.

Now is the perfect time to start teaching about real life - sort of. The world doesn't revolve around him like it did when he was a helpless newborn.

He's freaked out about these new independence, expectations and rewards. It's overwhelming. If you could talk him through it all and just constantly love (not a problem at all) he will learn, slowly but I promise surely, how to control his temper. He needs you to show him. He really wants you to show him, too!

Have fun giving him confidence and showing him how to deal with life. What you do now will show him how to deal with real, real, real world issues like backstabbing friends, tough bosses, a flat tire, burned dinner, and so and so forth.

Sounds crazy but its true. I remember at your son's age my son would fall apart over a cookie that he purposely dropped on the floor!! After follwing what i told you above, he now handles most tough situations well. I still need to remind him here and there not to yell or cry about things, just nicely ask me for help. but, now when he drops a cookie he says "Uh oh" and picks it up and throws it in the garbage. Small step bet actually huge in teaching a toddler how to deal with life's hardships.

Every child does this. There so smart at such a young age!
Eventually they will give in and except the sippy cup because they will realize that's all there is to offer. It always sad to hear babies cry and is upsetting when they kick, scream etc.
But this is so normal and just the begining

hi, i may not be able to help with the sippy cup, because i'm at that transition where i have to start giving regular milk...although i keep tryin the sippy cups. but for the tantrums. my daughter will be 1 next week, and she's throwing some horrible tantrums. she throws herself on the floor, slams her head into the floor (sometimes even tables, chairs, and worst of all, PEOPLE) she screams and yells, and has even swung her arms and kicked her feet...the total tantrum package! i was told to just try and calm her down by distracting her with something else. then talk to her and try to explain that this isn't proper behavior, and what she should do instead (like just walk away and play with some toys). it's starting to work, but it will take time! they say that the "terrible 2's" are starting very early with kids now. hopefully that means that it will also end early! well, good luck and try to have patience. if you have to, put him in a time out spot. since we don't have much room, we put her in the crib with the tv on to some sesame street songs, or disney movie and toys in her crib so she can play. that usually makes things better, and we leave her in there for about 20-30 min. and she either takes a nap, or plays and feels better either way. but we only do this when she gets really out of control! good luck!

You can always try the "bottle fairy" routine, and leave his bottles out for the fairy to take to little babies, and leave him a new toy. You can just say No. You can bribe him. Milk is his sippy, or water in his bottle. Lots of kids won't waste their time on a bottle if it's only got water. You can try giving him Ovaltine or some such in his milk, but only in the sippy. Then he can have the "special" milk...

As for tantrums, yup, that's what they do. My son threw a tantrum last summer EVERY SINGLE DAY when it was time to come in from the yard. Every day. From April through the end of fall. He lays in front of the door and kicks and screams and cries like we've cut off a limb. It's the only one he throws all day. There are times I pray for rain, so I can keep him in and not feel guilty. Every other thing he's gotten over the tantrum urge, but we've been at the park the last two days, and he cried half the ride home both days, again!

I dont really have any good suggestions, considering i have 2 year old triplets and i am trying to get them off the bottle too!! They only use it wehn they want to go to sleep, but i still dont want them to use it all,they to will not take the milk out of a sippy cup, and i have tried jsut about everything!! My pediatrician told me to just put the milk in the sippy cup and give them no other choice... I tried that for about 2 hours and alot of screaming so i gave in!!!

I found that my son wouldn't drink milk and juice from the same cup. I had to get two different cups, one for water and juice, one for milk. I would suggest you let him pick out his own cup, but when he picks it out, remind him that it is a special cup just for milk. I hope this helps!!!

All kids throw tantrums, but it is important that you stick to your guns and never give in, or they will get worse!!!

I would suggest you be more consistent. My daughter loves milk so when we switched to cups she knew she wouldn't get milk if she didn't have it in a cup. The older they get the harder it becomes and the worse the tantrums get! My daughter's 19 months and her tantrums are much worse than when she was 14 months. I had the same experience bringing her from outside recently. It was so bad I didn't know what to do with her. Most kids have trantrums it is up to us to let them know we are not going to give in to them.

See I had no issue with the transition. I started introducing the sippy cup early like at 7-8 months, she will drink a little water etc.. But never really took to it. Until she was like 11 month. I got the (parent's choice nuby's) sippy cups and that work great because it had the two different nipples, I used the one that was just like the regular nipple. I got a color that look like the bottle, (I think it purple) and she know that, that color is her milk. The other one I have with the other nipple she knows it for water/juice. You can also try using the nipple on the bottle on the sippy cup, that help us too. Or you can have him go it cold turkey if he absolutely refuses. My Daughter is also 14 months and she has been completely off the bottle for about 3 months now.

We waited until we were out of our normal routine (on vacation) and just never offered the bottle. My daughter didn't miss it. When we got home, I just threw the bottles out so there was no going back. My daughter still wouldn't take milk in a sippy cup, but I bought a pack of "bendy" straws and she loves drinking milk from big girl cups. She was a little older than your son, though (18 months). The only drawback is that she required a lot of supervision!

I can't help with the bottle to cup transition and my son is 9 months old and still only using a bottle however I would like to mention something about the tantrums...when my 9 month old doesn't want to sit in his high chair he has a fit. he bangs his hands and kicks his feet and swings hs arms and yells. I mentioned it to the doctor at his 9 month visit and she said it shows a sign of intellegence at such a young age. So there you have it, the tantrums, as annoying as they may be at any age, are a good thing while so young!
J.

You might want to just transition gradually one feeding at a time to a cup. Start with the morning and then make the last one the one at night. Also maybe you can have him pick out a sippy cup. ALso the tantrums are TOTALLY NORMAL!

I just went through this not long ago, in fact asked the same ? on this group. He gave up the bottle cold turkey w/ only some crankiness for a day or two. Would not drink anything from a cup except water. I tried EVERYTHING!! My concern was the calcium. Talked to my ped and she said that as long as he gets his calcium in other ways and drinks SOMETHING throughout the day, then do not push it. I haven't and now find that he will pick up his bro's cup that has milk and ovaltine and drink it fine. Still won't take it from "his" cup but whatever!!

With you on the tantrums too.....he's a headbutter(SP) and headbanger and just started the don't want to come in from the outside tantrum now. "this too shall pass" they say.
Good luck and don't worry!